Eternal “Faceless Evil”

    Over the past few years, I’ve come across a decent amount of solid up and coming extreme metal and punk acts from Arizona, which tells me there is a thriving underground scene out in that region of the country. Recently, I discovered this EP from death metal maniacs, Eternal, and was instantly taken back by the band’s raw unapologetic energy. 

    Titled, “Faceless Evil,” Eternal offers listeners five horrifying cuts of old school influenced death metal in the same vein as Obituary, Death, Autopsy and Massacre. This EP sounds like it came from the late 80’s/early 90’s period when death metal bands were really starting to unleash some utterly decimating releases. Eternal is by no means reinventing the wheel, but their sound and attitude pays homage to the gruesome death metal greats, while showcasing their skillful extreme music making talents. 

    The opening song off of the album will have some listeners surprised at first, but in the end, “Dagger to the Mind,” is a great opening piano composition to capture your attention. Also, I thought the song’s overall haunting ambience was a clever way to lead you into the fiery death metal onslaught that would take form on the second track, “Faceless Evil.” Right when the second song begins, you are instantly hit with a tremendous amount of raw old school death metal force. As the band slashes away at these ominous chord progressions the singer unleashes some tremendously decimating death metal vocals. Probably one of the areas of this album that I enjoyed the most was the vocal delivery, because so many young singers fail to maintain that profoundly sinister presence, where as the vocalist in Eternal stays consistent throughout the entire release. 

    On the third track, “To the Grave,” the band continues to stick to the old school formula by cranking out more putrid sounding riffs and agonizing drum arrangements. Also, the transition from the slower doom like parts to the more intense savage death metal compositions was very well executed. I liked how the band ended the song as well by coming up with a very abhorrent sounding riff section that reminded me of early Suffocation where the music hits you right in the gut with each palm muted chord strike. The last two tracks, “Diabolic Rebirth” and “Depravity,” are monstrous tracks that once again invoke the malevolent spirit of old school death metal. On, “Depravity,” I really enjoyed by the frantic lead guitar playing which was thrown into the blistering chaos. On future releases I definitely would like to hear more of those lead guitar fills as they do a great job adding to the sadistic soundscape.  

    Overall, Eternal’s “Faceless Evil,” is a solid EP that I would highly recommend fans of sickening old school death metal check out. I believe the band has something to offer and on their future albums I would like to see them continue to display the same savage attitude as they did on this EP, while also not being afraid to expand upon certain musical themes to create a very brutal and dynamic album. Eternal is another example of how this style of extreme music has continued to thrive even without mainstream recognition, because the young bands that have been inspired by the previous generations of extreme metal music are undeniably passionate fans looking to continue the brutal legacy by creating their own monstrously deafening releases.  

Check out the full EP below:

Eternal Bandcamp:

https://eternalaz.bandcamp.com/

Eternal Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Eternalbandaz

Lathe of Heaven “Bound by Naked Skies”

    With lyrical themes inspired by classic and contemporary science-fiction authors as well as a sound that blends together hardcore punk, post-punk and new wave, NYC based band Lathe of Heaven offers listeners an unbelievably profound debut album. Titled, “Bound by Naked Skies,” the album captures the pure essence of 80’s inspired post-punk/new wave, while also having a uniquely refreshing sound from start to finish. 

    I came across this album through the Youtube channel, No Deal, which is a great channel to subscribe to if you are a fan of hardcore punk, post-punk and crust punk. Lathe of Heaven reminds me so much of what you would have heard coming from the UK and Europe during that late seventies and early eighties period where you had punk bands starting to experiment more with electronics, dark atmospheres and haunting synth arrangements. You hear a bit of Killing Joke and Siouxsie and the Banshees in their sound as well as new wave acts such as OMD and early Echo and the Bunnymen. They really do such a great job recording a refreshing sounding album by coming up with some very catchy verse and chorus sections wrapped up in these mesmerizing compositions. Also, the band’s vocalist has a captivating delivery that grabs your attention right away and puts your mind at easy while you listening to words soar over the enchanting post-punk instrumental arrangements.  

    The album features eleven tracks, and I can guarantee that there are no filler songs on the entire release. Everything seems to be in perfect synchronicity when the band launches into the first song on the album, "At Moment's Edge." The guitar notes ring out with such an awe-inspiring sound and the guitar effects used by the guitarist create an extremely comforting atmosphere. On the second song, “Ekpyrosis,” the band comes up with a more punchy sounding piece of post-punk music that reminded me of classic Killing Joke. The lyrics vividly standout out as you slowly become engrossed in the catchy sounding musical landscape. Also, the bass tone on this track as well as most tracks on this album is truly immaculate sounding and adds so much to the band's overall sound. 

    Other tracks like, “Genome” and “Inertia,” continue to emphasize this classic post-punk/new wave sound that explores themes of science fiction and deep thought provoking concepts. Musically the band does not disappoint and the riffs on this album simply take you away from all the chaos and despair of modern society to look beyond what our current reality has to offer. “Moon-Driven Sea,” takes a turn down a more solemn sounding pathway, one which caught my attention instantly and made me forget about everything around me as I listened intently to the singer’s enchanting vocal delivery which follows along to the spectral guitar chords. 

    Another track that I want to point out is, "Ilusi ó n de Luces (Cold's Embrace),” because on this song there is another singer who starts the song off and then switches with the band’s primary singer. The contrasting voices makes the overall composition extremely fascinating, while also perfectly matching song’s quick and frantic tempo. I think what I took away most from this album was how strong the songwriting was on the entire release. There are few albums I have come across whether they be metal, rock, or punk releases that have such a captivating quality. 

    Lathe of Heaven’s “Bound by Naked Skies” has the potential to be a highly sought after release, especially amongst fans who enjoy 80’s post-punk and new wave. When I saw that Sacred Bones was the label that would be putting this album out, I knew Lathe of Heaven was in good hands since Sacred Bones is a label that is known for promoting very talented, highly driven and passionately creative acts. I do hope more people check this album out, because even if you are not a massive fan of this type of music, the songwriting and I think the overall sound of this album can be extremely appealing to a wide range of people. No matter what year or decade it happens to be, I strongly believe Lathe of Heaven is a band that will be able to transcend musical trends and maintain to passionate cult like following thanks to what they accomplished on this album. 

Check out the video for "At Moment's Edge" below:

Lathe of Heaven Bandcamp:

https://latheofheaven.bandcamp.com/album/bound-by-naked-skies

Marduk “Memento Mori”

    Swedish black metal titans, Marduk, continue to prove to the extreme metal world that they are one of the most vicious and unforgiving acts around with the release of their fifteenth full-length studio album, “Memento More.” Formed in 1990, Marduk has become one of the most influential and fearsome extreme metal bands around. From the early years where the band unleashed nightmarish raw sounding black metal on albums like, "Dark Endless" and "Those of the Unlight," to when they released one of the most intense and destructive albums ever recorded, “Panzer Division,” Marduk’s dedication to recording such hellacious releases is something that I believe deserves to be acknowledged. 

    It has been close to five years since Marduk released their last full-length album, “Viktoria,” which in my opinion was a solid album that demonstrated how skilled this band is at writing blistering black metal riffs, as well as dealing out some decimating blast beats. After waiting five years, I do think expectations for this new album were high and in the end Marduk delivered another strong extreme metal release. The tone of this album is a bit darker and the slower riffs sections on some tracks create a very morbid and bone chilling musical environment which was not something that the band emphasized as much of the previous couple full-length releases. I thought this album did a great job balancing the different types of riff structures, while still unleashing those deafening blitzkrieg like black metal riffs.

    The opening of the album instantly had me hooked and I liked how the band slowly built up the arrangement to create a very suspenseful sounding landscape. Morgan Håkansson’s sinister guitar tone rips through the sickening chaos, while the vocals provided by singer Mortuus paint a gruesome tale to compliment the hateful sounding riffs. Also, the feverish drum parts do a solid job maintaining the tempo and adding to the apocalyptic noises from the other instruments. The second track, “Heart of the Funeral,” is a strong piece of savage black metal, which is very reminiscent to what one would expect to hear from Marduk. On the third track, “Blood of the Funeral,” I thought the band really turned up the intensity, especially pertaining to some of the guitar leads Morgan thew into the recording to inject an extra boost of raw ferocity. Everything just really comes together on the song and this is something which continues throughout the rest of the album where the band sounds extremely tight as they deliver more catastrophic black metal music. 

    My favorite song off of the album is, “Shovel Beats Sceptre,” because the start of the track is just Mortuus growling out the lyrics while a bell eerily tolls in the background. Eventually the other instruments come feverishly crashing into the composition to unleash a very doom like sounding piece of music. Personally, I really enjoyed the slower more mid-tempo riffs on the album, because they do a great job drawing you into this brutally hypotonic sinister sounding realm. Other tracks such as, “Marching Bones” and “Year of the Maggot,” keep the black metal assault moving forward by hammering out more soul crushing riffs and ruthless sounding drum parts. Until the very end of the album you are unable to tear away from the sheer frantic insanity, which I attribute to the profoundly fiendish guitar playing. 

In the end, Marduk’s “Memento More,” is an album that I would highly recommend if you are a fan of black metal and want to hear something that is not poorly produced unlike some of the modern metal releases you might come across. Marduk has proven time after time to be one the most highly respect black metal acts around, which I would definitely credit to the band’s consistent and sinister creative mindset. Now, does this album stack up to some of their highly praised past releases? I think that is a tough call, and it will ultimately depend on your personal preferences. In my opinion, this album is a strong offering and one of the best black metal releases of this year that once again establishes Marduk as one the most malevolent forces within the global black metal community. 

Check out the song "Shovel Beats Sceptre" :

Marduk Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/Mardukofficial/

Century Media Website :

https://centurymedia.store/dept/marduk

Egregore “Synchronistic Delusions”

 

    Nightmare like surrealistic sounding landscapes dominate the debut album from Utah’s putrid death metal/grindcore act, Egregore. On their debut full-length album, “Synchronistic Delusions,” the band violently hammers out some pulverizing riffs to launch an utterly sadistic sonic onslaught upon the global metal community. 

    From the frantic and gruesome guitar riffs to the unbelievably deafening blast beats, this band puts together one insanely intense listening experience. Fans of old school grindcore, death metal and crust punk will definitely be drawn into the abysmal and hope crushing sound that can be heard throughout the album. I think what impressed me the most was how the entire album flowed by perfectly weaving together all these cataclysmic compositions. Taking a page from old school extreme acts like Carcass, Napalm Death and Terrorizer, the songs are not very long in terms of length, but they sure as hell pack a mighty punch of ruthless inhuman aggression. 

    The opening of the album is very fascinating and the band uses a couple different audio samples to setup up the first song, “Synchronistic Delusions.” Without much warning the band dives right into a hurricane like arrangement full of adrenaline pumping drum parts and ear shattering malevolent guitar riffs. Also, the vocals perfectly compliment the overall hellacious soundscape by providing this sort of disgusted and unapologetic attitude. Songs like “Walk in Soul” and “Ligis,” have this sort of crust punk vibe, while still maintaining an utterly blistering old school death metal sound with some technical guitars parts thrown into the mix to give the music this unpredictable quality. I think the lead guitar playing on this album was extremely well executed, and the band did a solid job adding some vividly sinister sounding note patterns when needed. 

    Along with the strong guitar playing, I think the unique cinematic electronic noises used on certain songs like, “Incorporeal Vivisection,” made the music standout even more and complimented the album’s theme. Even though this style of metal music along with the riff structures are nothing new to the world of metal, I would argue that Egregore’s commitment to coming up with a creative release, as well as making sure the production on this album fit with what they wanted to get out of the songs they wrote, made this an enjoyable listening experience from start to finish. You even have acoustic guitar riffs thrown in at times like on the song, “Metaprogramming The 8th Circuit,” which started out by blending together these ambient celestial sounds before shifting over to an impressive acoustic arrangement. Even though the majority of this album places an emphasis on unleashing pure devastation with hellish offerings like, "Birth of Death and "Chaos Protocols," you do have these moments that makes this a very dynamic extreme metal release. 

    Working with Sentient Ruin, a label that you all should know by now if you read this blog, Egregore will be releasing, “Synchronistic Delusions,” on September 1, 2023. I am looking forward to seeing how fans take to this album, because the variety of extreme metal elements makes this an album that I do find can be of interest to a wide range of metal fans. Yes, the band takes significant influence from old school extreme metal acts, however, their ability to forge a very enthralling and monumentality savage album is something which allows them to really standout. Given that this is just the band's debut album, I look forward to what they might be able to record on future releases!

Check out the song "Birth of Death" below:

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/synchronistic-delusions

Concert Review: My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult with Special Guests ADULT. and Kanga

 

Sunday night August,13th in downtown San Jose, CA was one massive fanatical electronic/industrial gathering that featured three solid acts. Headlining was industrial/electronic music icons My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult along with openers ADULT. and Kanga. Performing at The Ritz, a venue that is extremely significant when pertaining to the music scene in downtown San Jose, I had a strong feeling that this would be an epic show. 

Hell, even before I arrived at the venue there was this buzz in the air as I walked through downtown, which seemed to be hosting some sort of festival/bloc party with street vendors as well as people dancing in the middle of the sidewalk. The atmosphere around the city and even inside the venue was unbelievably electric. Before the first act even took the stage I felt as though people were in good spirits just listening to the music being played by DJ Basura who was ecstatically rocking out in the DJ booth.  Even if some of these people were probably under the magic spell of a feel good type of substance, I'd rather have people in a positive mood before a show compared to a bunch of angry looking yokel ready to whack you in the back with a steel folding chair. 

The first act of the night was Kanga, a female synth pop artist from Los Angeles, who actually took me by surprise. I had checked out some of her material earlier in the week to get an idea of what she sounded like and to be honest the recordings that I heard were just not fully grabbing me. However, once she started performing and I watched her command the stage with such mesmerizing presence, I started warm up to her sound. Quite frankly, I am the furthest thing from an indie pop/synth pop fan, but I can respect the music and appreciate the creative talents that go into writing and arranging the songs. Also, I thought she had a really strong natural voice compared to a lot of these new artist that I hear who tend to drown their voices with unnecessary digital effects. One song that I like was, “Rehab” because Kanga really brought a tremendous amount of euphoric passion as she sang over the adrenaline pumping electronic beats. 

Kanga

Following Kanga was, AUDLT. , an electronic/synth wave duo from Detroit, MI. The band started the show by wrapping a piece of tape from one end of the stage to the other and then the singer, Nicola Kuperus, attached a wire that seemed to be hooked up to an effects pedal of some sort to create these unearthly sounds. As Nicola madly ran her hand up and down the tape to send these ear shattering noises through the speakers, Adam Miller, hammered out some thunderous rhythms to create this cold dark electronic sounding atmosphere. Throughout the band’s set I was extremely impressed by Nicola’s stage presence as she has this punk rock attitude where she come right up to the crowd and delivers the lyrics with such vivid tenacity. Also, I liked how at the end of their set she walked out into the crowd to perform the final song, while Adam just kept rocking out on stage with such a suave presence. 

ADULT.

Once AUDLT. finished their set and cleared the stage, it was time for the night’s headlining act, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. The band’s second full-length album “Confessions of a Knife…” is without a doubt one of my favorite albums, so when the band opened with the song “Burning Dirt” I started singing along as well as most of the audience in attendance. There was this thrilling electricity in the room as the band performed that allowed you to get lost in the infectious electronic sounds coming from speakers. Buzz McCoy was rocking out from behind his keyboards, while Groovie Mann delivered the lyrics with his distinct voice and charismatic stage presence. Also, Mimi Star is a solid bassist and her tone made songs like, “A Daisy Chain for Satan” and “Sex on Wheels,” sound even more brilliant when hearing them live. Plus, Justin Thyme did a great job behind the kit and in my opinion was one reason as to why the band had such a tight overall sound. 

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult

I thought they played with such passion and the audience was really going all out as the band continued to deal out some groovy sinister electronic cuts like, “Ride the Mindway” and “And This is What the Devil Does.” For their final song of the night the band played, “Kooler Than Jesus,” to a massive pop from the crowd and it perfectly capped off the evening. From the start of their set until the end, the band seemed to be fueled by the audience's passionate support, which made this such a thrilling experience. 

Once the show was over and I made my way out of the Ritz and onto the streets of San Jose I felt exhausted, but also really elated as I walk back to my car to make my trip back home to the mundane suburban confines of San Ramon. Seeing this show reminded me of how strong the connection can be between a band and its fanbase, and I do believe it is why My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult has continued to thrive for so many years, as well as the band's unique and passionate creative mindset. All around this was a great show and if you have the chance to see them when they perform near you, I'd highly recommend going as they have more stops on the tour. Only complaint of the evening was going home a section of the 680 freeway was closed because of road work and I had to take a detour, but that is what you get living in this chaos carnival known as the Bay Area. 

Check out the show if it comes to your town, or if there is a stop close to where you live! 

Pale Cremation “Malevolent Cosmic Forms”

    Whenever the aliens decide to meet our leader they will not be asking for Joe Biden, but instead they will be wanting to meet, Matt Lasserre, the mastermind behind Pale Cremation. On Pale Cremation’s new release, “Malevolent Cosmic Forms,” Matt takes listeners completely off course by conjuring up some songs that sound as if they came from another galaxy far far away. 

    I would best describe Pale Cremation as a one-man doom act that throws in some other rock/metal elements as well, thus delivering a hauntingly groovy hard hitting sound to jam through your speakers. However, the two new tracks featured on this release sort of venture down a different musical path compared to previous releases, which I think makes the new music vividly jump out at you right away. Instead of classic sounding doom metal coming at you with thunderously monumental riffs, you are pulled into this chaotic sounding science fiction themed cinematic realm that is utterly unpredictable. 

    The opening song, “Malevolent Cosmic Forms,” is a sadistically warped musical creation featuring at first some death metal elements as well as some industrial metal elements to create a fearsome piece of music. Matt’s harsh distorted vocals confidently growl over the cataclysmic instrumental destruction to add to the hellacious sounding arrangements. All of a sudden the music stops and transitions into this cosmic hallucinogenic electronic atmospheric world where you feel as though you are floating through an alternate universe and are slowly melting away in the galactic oblivion.  

    The second song on the new release, “Phobos Lab,” is more of an electric cinematic composition that compliments the whole science fiction theme Matt has going on with the new music. If you were to tell me that this is where Pale Cremation would go musically after the first release, “EP I: Pale Cremation,” I would have thought you were crazy and needed to be locked up in the loony bin along with Charlie Sheen. After listening to this new music a few times I find everything to be very creative and really fascinating given the experimental nature which Matt decided to pursue on both of these new recordings. The following tracks definitely continue to focus on the cinematic electronic elements of the second song with the third track, "Shodan," reminding me of something you might hear from an 80's science fiction film. 

    On the album's fourth track, "Containment Zone," I could hear a lot of industrial elements that reminded me of industrial icons, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, especially the pertaining to the way the entropic electronic noises somehow come together to create a very hypnotic and catchy sounding atmosphere. The final song, "Salvation Initiative (Phase II)," is a very somber piece of music which is definitely a departure from the previous three tracks by putting more of an emphasis on this very eerie melody. I really liked the rough distortion setting Matt used and how it complimented the riff as the music eventually faded into the cold lifeless sounding void. The final noises you hear are these extraterrestrial like noises as if you have finally made contact with a species from another planet and in the end you wonder, why would anyone want to visit our toilet of a planet...

    I would highly recommend that people check out, “Malevolent Cosmic Forms,” if they are into extreme music mixed with some cosmic electronic noises that all come together to tell this surrealistic science fiction tale. Hollywood might want to reach out to Matt and get Pale Cremation to help score the next big blockbuster film, because they sure as hell need help right now given all the crap they have been putting out lately. Maybe Pale Cremation can create some music for my idea of a film, “The Day Barbie was Disintegrated by Visitors From Mars.” 

Check out the album via 666MrDoom's channel below :

Pale Cremation Bandcamp:

https://palecremation.bandcamp.com/album/malevolent-cosmic-forms

Decoherence "Order"

    Sentient Ruin’s extreme aural conquest continues to rage through the summer with yet another monstrous new album from one of the most devastating acts around. Based out of the UK, Decoherence  takes elements from industrial metal, black metal and death metal to achieve an unfathomably inhuman sound that tears down the walls of reality and traverses into truly nightmarish sounding landscapes. 

    The band’s third album, “Order,” continues where the band left on their previous full-length release, “Unitarity,” but also experiments with some even more surreal sounding industrial elements to create a bleak lifeless world where chaos has unraveled to a point you feel like everything around you is spinning out of control. I also recommend checking out the band’s compilation album, “System I,” which Sentient Ruin released back in 2021 that features an exceptional cover of Killing Joke's, "The Wait." 

    From the very beginning on this new album, Decoherence seeks to shake the foundations of extreme music by going against the grain with each composition. The first couple tracks on the new album, “Closed Timelike Curves” and “An Unconfined System,” are a couple maniacal offerings of deafening distorted creativity. You feel as though all these different noises are getting thrown into this monstrous machine, which then violently hammers out these explosive ear shattering rhythms. Something I noticed as well when listening to the beginning of this album was how cold and inhumane the atmospheres sounded, as if I was hearing the soundtrack to some horrifying dystopian futuristic science fiction film where humanity has been erased by malevolent artificial intelligence. 

    Throughout the album Decoherence’s harsh unapologetic mindset is what I believe fuels this album’s eye opening sound. A track such as, “With No Pre-Existing Direction,” features a plethora of agonizing riffs as well as these raw black metal vocals that echo over hateful sounding distortion from the guitars to achieve a pure hostile overall tone. “Quintessence Field,” is another pestilent mind altering track containing some dynamic and hypnotic sounding arrangements. Musically, everything just comes together so well that the album keeps you locked into this shattered mindset where you see reality slowly slipping away into the grim distorted thunderous musical landscape that pulls you further into the inevitable abyss.  

    Decoherence is a band that you are either going to embrace right away for their willingness to create unconventional sounding joineries into dark and twist soundscapes, or one that will have your brain melting from their insidiously entropic sounding arrangements. For fans of industrial metal, black metal and extreme music that wishes to shatter normal time signatures and hacks away at deviant sounding chord progressions, then you are going to want to check out this new album. Decoherence’s, “Order,” pushes the extreme music world further into the nightmarish oblivion to provide a sense of where humanity is headed as a majority of people blindly become enslaved to the materialistic world around them. 

Check out the song "Closed Timelike Curves" :

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp (Album comes out July 28th, so go pre-order now!):

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/order